‘Trial’ blurs line between innocence, guilt

The phrase “innocent until proven guilty” might be a mantra of the courts, but the power of bureaucracy and rumor can easily reverse the saying for the accused.

Such is the story portrayed in Franz Kafka’s “The Trial,” which opens 8 p.m. Friday at the John Waldron Arts Center.

Theatre of the People’s latest project, based on Franz Kafka’s novel, tells the story of Josef K, accused of a crime but never told what it is, and how the accusation alone begins to impact his life.

“The Trial” will be performed 8 p.m. Jan. 22 through the 23 and Jan. 28 through the 30, with additional shows at 2 p.m. on Jan.
23 and 30.

“Sometimes the difference between being guilty or innocent is totally irrelevant,” said director David Nosko. “Just being accused, for the accused, the rest of their life is an attempt to shed that.”

K is consumed by the accusation, which affects his life throughout the play.
“It takes over his job, his
career, his personal life. It just slowly sort of eats away at his sanity,” said Nicholas Maudlin, a sophomore portraying K.

Even the stage is enclosed in a cage, separating the audience from the actors and figuratively imprisoning the characters.

Adam Bradley, a junior and K’s coworker in the show, said he sees the relevance of “The Trial” particularly in the controversy concerning Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

“If someone’s taken in the middle of the night ... taken to an undisclosed location and beaten for a confession, they may have no idea what they’re actually supposed to be confessing,” Bradley said. “It’s the state having a lot of power.”

Kafka’s original novel was never finished, so the play,
adapted by Nosko, will feel disjointed, surreal and sometimes just plain absurd for audience members.

“The story itself is a little bit fragmented, so it comes out in pieces,” Nosko said. “It’s little vignettes that add up to a whole. In the end it is a story of its own.”

He said he also wants to encourage audience members to react openly to the play, even if that includes chanting or heckling at times.

“TOP theater is not like the IU Department of Theatre and Drama; it’s not like Cardinal theater; it’s not like the Bloomington Playwrights Project, nor are we attempting to be,” Nosko said. “So we just ask for an open mind and an open heart and that people try to enjoy themselves and actually feel free to express themselves.